BillsFan4

I thought Kansas City retained $3.6M of Smith's 2018 cap hit if he were traded? Also, I'd imagine that the Bills would possibly try to negotiate a short contract extension with Smith if they traded for him, which would allow them to potentially lower his cap hit in 2018.

Yes, much of the dead cap this season is from the new regime, but I look at it as them cleaning up the cap mess left by the old regime. IMO, a 7-9 team that hadn't made the playoffs in almost 2 centuries should not have been at the salary cap ceiling. That should be a problem you have once you're a winning team/super bowl contender and you have to pay all the guys who got you there, not a team struggling to break .500 every year. This year will be rough as far as the cap goes, but by 2019 they should be in much better shape. Thats what I think as well. They haven't given Tyrod much of any vote of confidence. They didn't hesitate on saying they want back their 34yr old free agent defensive tackle considering retirement (Kyle), but when it came to their starting QB they were pretty evasive and non commital. There have been a lot of signs that they are looking to move on from Tyrod. I think they will try try their best to address the QB position this offseason, through the draft and free agency/trade. What exactly they do, I don't know. But I do feel pretty confident that they will try their best to do something. If all else fails, I could see Tyrod back though. But I think that is probably a ways down their list of options.

I think plan C is probably Tyrod. Ill be optimistic tic no matter what happens... I'm always optimistic to start a new season. It's what keeps me coming back year after year. I also realize that Beane may not be able to solve our QB problem in his very first draft with the Bills, so I am willing to be a bit more patient than some. They have a ton of dead cap this season, from cleaning up the previous management's mess. They have a ton of holes to fill at starting positions, and they need depth at just about every spot on both sides of the ball. This is not a job that gets done in 1 year... I do think Beane will do everything he can to bring in a QB this offseason. But I don't think he will be stupid about it either. I don't want to see them reach to just draft a QB for the sake of taking one, like we did with EJ Manuel and I don't think they will do that. If they can get a guy they like, I am sure they will. If not, I'm willing to give them time. I actually have faith in this new front office and coaching staff which is something I haven't had in quite a while, so I guess that makes it easier for me to have some patience.

Yeah it would be nice if there was some type of exception for situations like this where it's a total surprise career ending injury (he didn't really even start his new deal yet...) and it's clear that the team wasn't trying to manipulate the cap. I can see the abuse potential but you'd think there has to be ways to make it work. Have the player see an independent doctor appointed by the NFL to confirm the injury is career ending, or something along those lines. And maybe have some type of age limit apply - like the NHL where contracts rules are different when signing guys 35+ and there are cap recapture penalties for retirement. A rule for career ending injury retirement would maybe even allow NFL teams to guarantee all contracts for career ending injury (at the least those caused by playing football), which should really be the case anyway (I believe it has to be written into the contract currently?). Maybe im not seeing something though? I feel like there has to be a good reason why a rule like this is not already in place...?

Interesting stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

This news has really sunk in now, and I am definitely bummed out. But also very glad that he's able to walk away before serious injury potentially happened. Losing him leaves such a huge hole in the locker room, and on the field (although I hope Groy is able to step in and play well like when EW broke his leg. That would go a long way toward helping our cap situation next year). I really hope that Kyle chooses to come back for at least 1 more year now. It'd be hard to stomach losing both him and Wood in the same offseason.

I am a little surprised that they are going to hire a new GM before they have a new owner... I figured theyd just keep Hurney there until a new owner took over. Maybe they think the team is worth more with stability in the front office?

I actually feel bad for Bogosian. I'm sure it's not fun for him missing so much time every year. But damn is he such a waste of cap space...

Yes, they totally should have just used their crystal ball to look into the future and predicted this injury.

If it was just a cumulative thing, it makes me wonder about the Bills doctors.... did they just miss this? Or was Wood hiding symptoms? Or just toughing it out (which seems kinda dangerous if the dr's knew about this)? Or was some hit he took in that playoff game the thing that pushed it over the edge? Ill be interested to hear more details on this. I just hope E. Wood can live a normal, healthy life.

Well, no need to worry right now. they can't trade him until after 4pm on march 14th. I agree on Glenn. He was healthy and available until this foot injury. I have no interest in trading him unless it's a really solid haul of assets. Plus, Dawkins is far from proven yet. Butnifntheyre set on him as LT then move Glenn to RT. i don't care what side they each play, I just want 2 solid tackles anchoring the line. Ah man I hope not. It's going to be a sad day to be a Bills fan the day Kyle retires. Gonna leave quite the hole in leadership on and off the field. I really hope he sticks around at least 1 more season (and preferably 2) so he can help groom a replacement (that I assume we will draft this year).

What could it possibly be? Like CaptnCoke11 said, the trade window doesn't open until march. Player news... Kyle retiring? Something with Incognito? A contract extension for someone (Benjamin? Gaines? Kyle?)? That's about all the guesses I have off the top of my head.

Correct. What really sucks is that they chose to change it pretty much the year after the Sabres started their rebuild. It used to be that the draft lottery was only for the 1st overall pick, and a team could only fall 1 spot (that's how we got Eichel, but they changed it immediately after that). The last place team used to have 25% odds of picking #1. Now they only get an 18% chance at #1 and can fall 3 spots. But at least we tanked in time to get Eichel...

Yes. But he was on loan from Sweden's AIK hockey for the year. Thats why why he was eligible for the AHL before 20yrs old. He wasn't considered a major junior player, but a european player on loan to major junior. Had the Sabres not made him play in the AHL he would have went back to Sweden to play.

"Look at me" posts

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bills-gm-explains-how-andrew-luck-spoiled-plan-to-draft-cam-newton/ Cam was definitely the original target... I don't know if Whaley tried to move up for him or not, or if Carolina would have been willing to trade that pick. But the Bills did want Newton.

Oh man, I want Dahlin SO bad! I just have zero hope of winning a draft lottery. I am planning on being pushed back the max 3 spots. As long as we can stay in the top 5 though... top 5 looks real strong this year. Some really good d men in this draft. I dont want to rush Mittlestadt. If he's absolutely 100% ready, then great. But if there's any doubt I'd rather keep him in college an extra year than rush him to the NHL too early, like we did with Reinhart and Nylander (He should have stayed and played in Sweden instead of being pushed into the AHL too soon. I guess Sweden actually made a big deal about Tim Murray rushing him to the AHL. They were pissed and felt it hurt his development (which looks to be true). I guess they even brought it up in a meeting with all the GM's).

I was just coming here to post the same thing. They showed it during the Sabres/Flames game. I couldn't find the actual graphic, but yes i believe it was 43%. I know it led the entire NHL. McDavid came in 3rd just for reference... (McD was pretty invisible last night, eh?) Eichel's continued development has been impressive to watch. You have to give Housley his due credit in Eichel's development. He really seems to have been able to reach Eichel and get him to change certain aspects of his game (like backchecking and playing defense, for one). You can see a lot of guys (slowly) starting to do what Housley is asking of them more and more. It's amazing how much better the Sabres play when they actually listen to their coach and follow his game plan!

Yeah I lived in northern Florida for a while and the summers were absolutely brutal! 100(+) degrees and humid as !@#$. People literally had to walk around with sweat rags... we had plastic furniture we left outside that started to deform... lol. Like you said, I didn't want to leave the a/c. Plus there's lots more bugs and stuff like that, since they can live there year round. Taking a walk in the woods was a whole new ordeal, with not having grown up there (so I didn't know the different plants, animals, bugs etc to watch out for). Lots of spiders, poisonous ones too, like brown recluses (who will leave a hole in you if they bite) and black widows. They had to spray my place once a month to keep them under control. Fire ants. Love bugs that glue themselves to your car and don't come off. Mosquitoes like crazy, and the list goes on... Oh and CHIGGERS. I had no idea what these even were until I walked through a patch of long grass and was miserable for the next week+ with little tiny bugs imbedded under my skin. I almost had a damn alligator eat my dog, too! (I lived right on the St. John's river). There was a lot to like about living down south, but the summer heat was not one of those things. I honestly don't miss it. I like the change of seasons.

Wonder what he meant by this - Is he saying that he may bench Mariota for certain games to help develop him? Or am I misinterpreting?

My thoughts exactly.

Did they have Daboll on yet?

I was also surprised that we didn't hear anything about Schwartz being linked to any of the head coaching jobs, or even interviewing them (afaik anyway). He does have a bit of a reputation for having a very strong personality... (to say it nicely). I guess that could possibly play a part. I think it was mainly just the way things are trending with coaching hires. With the numerous first time rookie head coaches that have just recently come in and had real success I think we are seeing more teams going that direction. It can be a bit of a copycat league at times. Sean McVay, Doug Pederson, Sean McDermott, Dan Quinn, Anthony Lynn, Adam Gase (last year) and even Todd Bowles (2 years ago) + Kyle Shanahan (once he got a QB) all came in and had varying degrees of success. Lot of younger coaching hires recently too, and also guys with much less experience. We are seeing coaches hired that barely have any experience as a coordinator (2-3 years or less) and have only been coaching a total of 10 years or less. This is a bit of a change from years past. Things seem to be currently trending toward younger coaches with less experience. Especially this offseason.

Wow... So... Gregg Williams and Todd Haley on the same staff. lol

There it is. Pats to super bowl. Again. Damn I hate them. But im also not all that unhappy about seeing the quitter lose. One of those bitter ter sweet games I guess.